Means for locating, testing, and cleaning leaks or holes in well casings



Jan. 2l, 930. P. H. @RANGER MEANS FOR LOCATING, TESTING, AND CLEANING'LEAKS OR HOLES IN WELL CASINGS Flled July 5, 1928 INI/ENTOR. Paa// 6kg/7ATTDRN YS.

Patented Jan. 21, 193D.

VBNITED, STATES PATET oFi-i'cs A riiUL n. Gamesa, or Los ANGELES,CALIFORNIA l (MEANS FOB LOCATING, TESTING, CLEANING LEAKS R HOLES INWELL CASINGS lApplication led July 5,

l This invention relates to means for locating7 testing and cleaningleaks.- or perforations in well casings and the main object of theinvention is to provide means for this is to provide a means for thisstated purpose which will enable the size of the leak or the total arealeaking to be estimated.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an embodiment-of my invention andreferring thereto:

" i Fig. 1 is a vertical section-fof the leak locatingmeans within aportion of a Well casing.

ig'. 2 isaside elevation of the eak locating means.v

1 rigsis 'a secties on une 3 3 in rig. 2.

fi lMy. improved' leak locating means comprises a tubular -member orcylinder 1 of means or packing rings 3 and 4 adapted-to.

metal which is adapted to be inserted within a well casing indicated at2 in Fig. 1 and is provided with upper and lower packing make a liquidtight joint or sliding connection with the walls of the casing 2.EachofA said packing means may comprise a cup 5 of leather .or othersuitable yieldlng material having its central portion 6 clamped by ahead 7 andnut 21 or otherwise to the tubular member 1 and having itsperipheral portion 8 rounded and incurved at the free end so as -'-to'permit the cup to slide past slight obstructions on the wall oftheNtubinO', said free end of said packing cup is preierably providedwith reenforcements or protective device, such as` wirelacing 9,whichserves a double purpose of constricting or incurving such free endof the cup as abovestated and ofl providing a metal member proJectingsufciently beyond the leather or flexible material of the cup to takethe wear incident to passage of the packing means within the cas- `f-ingparticularly when such packing means is passing joints or couplingsbetween casing sections. The v`cup of the upper packing means opensdownwardly and the cup of the 1928. Serial N0. 290,443.

lower packing means 3 opens upwardly so that pressure of the liquid inthe space 10 between said packing means and between the tubular member 1and the casing 2 will tend to force the cups 5 outwardly against thewall of the casing 2 to form a tight joint, the tightness of the ]ointincreasing with the pressure so that leakage of liquid past the packingmeans under such pressure is prevented. If desired, the parts 7 and 21which secure the packing rings to cylinder 1, may be made of wood orother material weaker than the metal body of the cylinder, so that ifthe packing means stick or' bind'in the casing the cylinder may be drawnfrom the well, leaving the packing rings in the casing.

Means are provided forapplying pressure l to the upper end of thecylinder 1, said tube or pipe being made in any desired number of.

sections so as to permit the cylinder 1 to be lowered toI any desiredposition in the well and an operating means for the piston 11 isprovided consisting of a rod 17 also made in a plurality of sections itbeing understood that as the cylinder 1 is lowered into the welladditional sections of the pipe 15 and rod 17 will be added on' fromtime to time and in lifts ing or withdrawing the cylinder 1 suchsections of the pipe and rod will be uncoupled progressively as theseparts are drawn up. An opening 16 may be provided, or example, in thelowermost section of pipe 15 to permit passage of liquid into said pipeand into the cylinder 1.

A check be providedat the bottom of cylinder 1, said valve openingupwardly to permit inflow of liquid into the cylinder when the cylinderis valve, such as a ball' valve 13 may i being lowered. In case thecheck valve 13 is i' provided the opening 16 may be omitted if de- Guidemeans are preferably provided for the cylinder, said guide meansconsisting for example of springs 18 attached to the supporting tube 15and to the downwardly extending tube 19 secured to the lower end ofcylinder 5 1, said springs being in the form of bow springs of resilientmetal adapted to engage the walls of the casing so as to guide thedevice as it is being lowered or raised in t-he casing. Openings 2O arepreferably provided in the cylinder 1 and in the fitting 21 which securethe packing rings 5 to said cylinder to permit liquid to be forced intothe interior of the rings or cups 5 from the cylinder so as'to clean outany sediment that may collect in such rings or cups, particularly in thelower ring or cup, Y

Supporting pipe is preferably provided with universal joints, indicatedat 15 to eno sure that the cylinder 1 will properly lit and ride in thecasing, even when the casing deviates considerably from the verticaldirection.

- ln order to locate a leak 0r leaks in a well casing by means of thepresent invention the device above described is lowered into the wellcasing by means of the suspending pipe 16 which is extended as abovedescribed by adding sections as it is lowered, sections" also Abeingadded to the operating rod 17 at the 3o same time. While the cylinder 1may be of anyj desired length, I prefer to make it ofconsiderablevertical extension, for example, abount one hundred (100')feet so as to enable a considerable vertical portion of the casing to betested at each operation when the device has been lowered to a suitabledepth which is assumed to be below the liquid level in the well, suchliquid level being either naturally or artificially produced. The piston0. 11 is operated by firstraising the rod 17 sol as to raise the pistonabove the opening12 thus permitting liquid to flow through intorthecylinder 1 below'the piston 11, it being understood that in thisoperation liquid will 5 flowrpast one or the other of the packing rings3 and 4 provided there is not sufficient inflow through a leak in `thecasing between these acking rings to supply the amount of liquid awninto the cylinder 1 by the` upward movement ofthe piston 11, theconstruction f. n/fofthe packing rings permitting passage of liquid fromeither above or below the cylinder to the space 10, but preventingpassage in the opposite direction. vThe rod 17 is then pressed downcausing the piston 11 to force liquid out through the opening 12 intothe space 10. If there is no leak in the casing between the packingrings 3 and 4, this operation will immediately develop pressureA on thepiston and the operator will be advised by the resultin .resistance orthe downward movement o? the rod 17 y that this portion of thecasing issubstantially free from leakage.

. If, however, there is a. leak in the portion of the casing between thepacking rmgs 3 and 4 the downward movement of the piston will force theliquid through such leak and the fact that the rod 17 can be given adownward movement serves to advise the operator that a leak is presentand he can estimate roughly the size or seriousness of the leak by thecomparative ease with which the rod 17 can be forced down.

T/Vhen a given portion of the well casing has been tested in this mannerthe device may be moved either upwardly or downwardly to anotherposition and another portion of the casing tested in similar manner andin this manner the well casing may be explored for leaks throughout anydesired portion of itsl height in minimum time and relatively smallexpense.

lf desired the length or vertical dimension of a leak can also bedetermined by first lowering the cylinder until the diminished pressureon the rod 17 indicates the presence of a leak, then gradually raisingthe cylinder until application or pressure to the rod 17 is fullyresisted, showing" that the lower packing means has j ust passed the topof the leak, and marking the position of some point on the supportingpipe 15 with relation to any suitably ixed marker at the top of the wellcasing, then gradually lowering the cylinder by means ofthe supportingmeans 15 until pres- 95 sure on the rod 17 again shows full resistance,indicating that the upper packing means has passed just beyond the lowerend of the leak, and again marking the position' of said point on thesupporting means 15 with relation to 100 the aforesaid fixed marker. Thedistance between the two marks so made, less the distance between thetop of the lower packing ring and the bottom of the upper packing ring,will be substantially equal to the length of the leak.

The operation of the supporting tube 15 and the rod 17 in the mannerabove described may be effected by any suitable means, for example, byelevators or block and tackle 1n the same manner as is employed for theraising and lowering of well tubing, it being understood that the weightof the rod 17 extending from the top or the well to a point of leakageat least several hundred feet below the top of the well, will generallybe'sutlicient to force the piston 11 downwardly to effect the testingoperation and the upper end of the rod being supported by the block andtackle. The resistance to the downward motion of the piston by thepressure of the liquid within the cylinder below the piston can beestimated by the pull on the operating rope or cable of the block andtackle, or if desired, the rod 17 may be hung from the block and 125tackle by a spring scale, to measure the down ward pull on the rod.

The device above described can also be used to determine whetherperforations have been eifectively formed in a well casing by the byreason -of oversize or of yielding of the casing atthe part where it isattempted to perforate, and it is, therefore, desirable to be able toascertain whether the perforations n have been effectively made in thecasing by a perforating means. To test the casing for this purpose, thedevice above described is lowered into the casing until the perforatedlevel is reached and the portion of the casing which is assumed to havebeen perforated is then explored in the manner above described so as todetermine whether 'and to what extent perforations have been formed inthe casing. 1f desired, by making the dei vice suiciently short with theupper and lower packing rings with a few inches of one another theexploration of perforated section of the well casing may be carried outin such manner that exact level at which perfo-.

rations where made or failed to be made can be determined.

The device can also be used for the purpose of washing out perforationsin case they have become clogged, the device being lowered to ltheperforated section and liquid being forced from the cylinder l throughthe perforation l2 to thespace 10 and cause this liquid to be forcedoutwardly through the perforation in the well casing to clean' the same.

I claim: v

1. Means for' locating leaks in well casing comprising a cylinder havingupper and lower packing means adapted to make a liquid tight joint withthe wall of a yvell casing, saidcylinder having a perforationintermediate said packing means, a supportin tube connected to saidcylinder and adapte to.' extend upwardly through the well casing to the'top of the casing, a piston working in said cylinder so as to applypressure' to liquid therein to force. such liquid through theperforation in the cylinder into the space between the cylinder, thecasi-ng and the upper and lower packing means, and an operating rodconnected to' said piston and extending through said supporting tubes tothe top of the well casing.

2. A device for locating leaks. in well casing comprising a cylinderhaving upper and lower packing means extending around the Y cylinder andadapted to make fluid tight conupwardly -therefrom to operate the pistonwithin the cylinder.

3. A construction as set forth in claim 2, and comprising in addition acheck valve at the lower end of the cylinder adapted to`open upwardly.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subi scribed my name this 27th dayof June 1928.

PAUL H. GRANGER,

tact with the walls of the casing, said cylinder being provided with aperforation in its wall intermediate such packing means so as toestablish communication between the interior of the cylinder and thespace between the cylinder andthe well casing, a piston mounted tooperate in said cylinder, means connected to the cylinder and extendingupwardly therefrom to support the cylinder, and means connected to thepiston and extending

